This article is written by Arunkumar Deshmukh, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a contributor to this blog.This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in sites like lyricstrans.com and ibollywoodsongs.com etc then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws.

This article is his 700th writeup in the blog.

Blog Day :

3789

Post No. :

14773

This is my 700th article on this Blog. At this moment, of course, I am very happy. I can not forget the people who helped me reach here. The first is our ATUL ji, who has always been very supportive, helpful and considerate. I have been associated with this Blog for more than 8 years now, but believe it or not, I have yet to meet him ! We have not even talked on Phone anytime. His work is so systematic and perfect that this has never been a hindrance. I do hope to meet him in one of his visits to Mumbai.

The other person is the most popular one on this Blog. You guessed it right. SUDHIR ji. From our first interaction in 2011 on E mail, we are in contact with each others. I had the good fortune to meet him a couple of times. He has been very helpful to me in more than one way. Thank you, Atul ji and Sudhir ji.

Besides these two V.I.P.s, I am fortunate in getting many friends in the Atulite’s group. I find that every one of them has some special characteristic, from which I learnt something. Yes, it is never too late to learn from others.

Sometimes I wonder how the Destiny works. I retired from service in 1998. After being a Pharma Consultant for next 6 years, I left working and enjoyed life with family, visiting various places all over India with my wife. After I crossed 70 years of my age, I learnt working on Computers from my grandchildren on a Laptop gifted by my son in law. At the same time I learnt using the smart Phone and some other gadgets. I, then, found this Blog on the Internet and my life changed. I dug out my old diaries and notebooks in which I used to note down information on every film that I saw. Though some had spoiled with white ants, faded and torn, they were very useful . My first article on this Blog appeared on 1-10-2012 and then there was no looking back. I started writing on various sites and Blogs, but my heart was always with this Blog.

I never imagined in my dreams even, that I would ever write more than 700 articles on old films, that I would write a Book, or that I would be invited to join the Boards of some Pharma companies. But all this did happen, after I crossed my 70 years of age. Looks like, that age is just a number. What matters is your outlook towards life. A positive approach and a will to learn new things makes all the difference.

Today’s song is from film Heer Ranjha-48, the first film in which the great composer Khayyam gave the music, albeit as Sharmaji, along with his colleague Varmaji as a pair Varmaji-Sharma ji. In one of his interviews, Khayyam had said, ” After working with the Batish brothers ( Pt. Amarnath, Pt.Husnlal and Bhagatram), I went to Lahore and joined G.A.Chishti. In 1947, he took me to Calcutta. I assisted him in 2 films- Yehi hai zindagi-47 and Jhuti kasme-48. His other assistant was one Rehman Varma. After these 2 films, Chishti saab went back to Lahore and we two came to Bombay. Those were the Partition times and we were little scared. We met Husnlal-Bhagatram. They not only assured us safety but also encouraged us to start giving music as a pair. They suggested that we call ourselves ” Varma ji-Sharma ji “. On their suggestions we went to Punjab Film Corporation, owned by Wali sahab. He knew me. He heard our tunes. Those days he was making a film Heer Ranjha and wanted some Punjabi type songs. Aziz Hindi, taken by him already was unable to do Punjabi type music. Wali sahab told us to make such songs and Aziz would do other songs. Thus started my music career.”

Today’s song is ” Shehron mein se shehar suna tha Lahore….”. Those who lived in Lahore in pre-partition days were extremely attached to that city. There was a saying ” Jine Lahore nai dekhya, wo te jamiya hi nahin” ( one who has not seen Lahore, has not been born). Everyone is proud of his town, but Lahore wasi people were different.

From my house towards Juhu, there is a building at the corner of Gulmohar Circle which has a board-” Karachi Residents’ Association”. On inquiry I discovered that this was a building owned by ( Sindhi speaking Hindu and Muslims) people who resided in Karachi before Partition. I was told that 5-6 such buildings exist all over Mumbai. On further inquiries, I was informed that there were a few buildings of ” Lahore Residents Association” also( Punjabi speaking Hindus and Muslims). When I met one of the residents of ” Lahore” wala building, that old gentleman was speaking so lovingly about old Lahore that I was surprised. Even after 70 years of Partition, these people had such fondness for Lahore…or Karachi, for that matter.

Lahore had played an important role in India’s film industry till Partition separated us. Lahore had a built in advantage that it was in the midst of Hindi/Urdu speaking population. Bombay was far off and Calcutta and Madras catered mainly to regional aspirations. In the 40s, some really good films like Khazanchi, Khandan, Daasi etc were made in Lahore. All the 3 leading actors, Dilip, Raj and Dev had roots across the border. Shyam, Omprakash, Karan Dewan, Pran, Surendra, Balraj Sahni, Khursheed, Mumtaz Shanti, Veena, Begum Para, Noorjehan, Meena Shorey, Suraiya, Manorama, Kamini Kaushal, Shyama…. a string of artistes who worked in Lahore enriched Indian films. Pancholi, Kardar, Rafi, Shamshad Begum, Jhande Khan, Ghulam Haider, Pt. Amarnath and brothers, Hansraj Behl, Khayyam, Vinod also worked in Lahore.

Lahore city in particular gave us many Gems in Music. They came from HIRA MANDI. (old name ‘ Tibbi’ ). Hira Mandi was an area which was for Tawayafs. For centuries, Hira mandi in Lahore nurtured some outstanding performing artistes. The famous Noorjehan, Khursheed, Shamshad begum, Mumtaz Shanti and many others came from Hira Mandi. Sardar Akhtar and Bahar Akhtar, wives of producer Mehboob khan and A.R.Kardar were also from Hira Mandi.

Most of the early film actresses for pre-partition Lahore cinema came from the Kothas of Hira Mandi. Cine people scouted Hira mandi for fresh new talents. The art of Music was confined to the streets of the courtesans, with Hira Mandi taking the lead as the largest settlement in the cultural capital of the state in the undivided Punjab.

Writer Nirupama Dutt said about Hira Mandi, in her book,’ Half the sky ‘…

Come evening and they would be out in their balconies in the finest of silks and jewels. Their eyes would be lined with kohl and their lips red with dandasa, bark of the walnut tree and the most fragrant of eastern perfumes or itars would fill the air. They were known as diamonds and such was their glitter that the whole street would seem studded with stars. These were the courtesans of Heera Mandi of Lahore in the years before Partition in 1947.

Heera Mandi was to Lahore what Chowk was to Lucknow, Sonagachi to Calcutta, Bhendi Bazar to Bombay and Mehboob ki Mehendi to Hyderabad, before Independence. These forbidden yet most sought-after bazaars where women sold their many talents were known as “kothas”. In these abodes lived women, many of them very talented artists, who were nevertheless social outcasts living on the fringes of the society. Interestingly, this place was first known as Tibbi Bazar. And this name is recorded in a Punjabi “tappa”:

Tibbi waliye la de paan ni teri

Tibbi de vich dukan ni”,

Pran Nevile,a Die hard ” Lahorite” and a retired I.A.S Diplomat of International reputation, says about Lahore,in his book ‘ Lahore ‘ –

Why was Lahore called the gem of India?” I asked. “That it indeed was,” Pran replied, “It was totally different from the rest of India, in every way. It was the educational centre of North India. It had more colleges than any other city of India. The student population of Lahore was lively and wonderful. Co-education came late, but there it was. Lahore was always very prosperous; it was the hub of North India right up to Peshawar. Everything about Lahore was special. If you wanted to see the best-dressed young men in India, they were to be found in Lahore. The best food in India was to be found in Lahore. It was a city of gourmets and it had romance. A popular film song of those days went: Ik shehr ki laundia, nainoon ke teer chala gayee.And this doggerel that we all knew and I to this day remember: Tibbi mein phir ke jalwa-e-Parwardigar dekh: Hai dekhney ki cheez issay baar baar dekh.The great stars, the great movers and shakers of the Bombay movie world were all from Lahore.”

The song mentions not only Lahore, but some other cities of old Punjab( pre-partition) like Multan,Ambala etc. The music and tune has a clear Punjabi style and it is having a fast rhythm too. Considering that it was Khayyam’s first film as an MD, the songs are very catchy.Among the crop of new composers, who began their career after Independence, I rate Khayyam very high. Unlike some others, his name was never heard in any controversy or filmy behaviour. He was always very dignified.

Khayyam did only 69 films composing 381 songs. He wanted to be a singer and actually started his film career by singing a song in film Romeo and Juliet-47. Later he also sang one ore song in film Anjuman-86. His last fil, so far, is Bazaar E Husn-2014.

Let us enjoy this song, obtained from the collection of our Sudhir ji. I am sure you too will like it.

I ve been away from the blog milestone calculator for a few weeks now. I knew this was coming but missed the moment of its posting.
Congratulations Guruji. And I really am blessed to be in the same sphere as u. I am still an amateur writer learning to write like u.
A very good description of pre-independece Lahore u ve sketched here for people like me who were born in free India.
And as u ve rightly said we have to be thankful to the blog to bring us all together.
Congratulations once again.

Heartiest Congratulations Sir ji on your 700th post on the blog.
They are 700 gems of treasure having rare and interesting information, sweet memories of the golden period of Indian Cinema and enriched with your own experience and a source of valuable information for the generations to come.